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2012年10月高等教育自学考试全国统一命题考试
英语（二）试卷
课程代码：00015
III.Reading Comprehension （：30 points, 2 points each）
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
If you start each day desperately wishing for an extra hour in bed, the following is likely to leave you feeling even more bad-tempered. Scientists have identified a “sleepless elite”- a small group of people for whom staying in bed longer is a waste of time.
Rather than being tired and bad-tempered losers, they are an energetic, outgoing and optimistic group who can happily and healthily get by on just four or five hours of sleep a night. And, they tend to be slim, able to hold down two jobs at the same time, and handle their extra-long days easily without needing coffee or catnaps （小睡）。
Working out how the gene （基因） cuts sleep without any obvious impact on health could help in the design of drags that give us all a few extra hours in our day. The bad news is that while many of us get by on a few hours' sleep a night, just one to three people in 100 qualify to be part of the sleepless elite.
The research team is now calling for members of the lucky group to come forward to allow their DNA to be studied. Harvard University researcher Dr. Christopher Jones said: “My long-term goal is to learn enough someday so we can control the sleep mechanism without damaging our health. Everybody can use more waking hours, even if you just watch movies.”
Many of those who have already volunteered share fascinating characteristics. They are cheerful, thinner than average, and seem to have a high tolerance for physical pain and psychological setbacks.
Dr. Christopher Jones told the New York Times: “Typically, at the end of along phone interview, they will admit they have been sending short text message sand surfing the Internet and doing word games at the same time, all on less than six hours of sleep.”
21. According to the passage, the sleepless elite（ ）
A. perform less well than others B. regard sleep as a waste of time
C. are energetic despite less sleep D. are likely to make others angry
22. Researchers study the sleepless elite to（ ）
A. develop the mechanism of sleep B. invent a healthy way to cut sleep
C. find the impact of sleep on health D. design drags for sleepless people
23. The phrase “come forward” （para. 4） is closest in meaning to（ ）
A. decide B. donate
C. contribute D. volunteer
24. According to Dr. Jones, it is typical of the sleepless elite to（ ）
A. sleep at least six hours a night B. watch more movies than others
C. do more than one thing at a time D. do word games better than others
25. The passage is mainly about（ ）
A. a disease which is related to genes
B. a new drag that cures sleeplessness
C. recent studies on sleepless patients
D. people who do well with less sleep
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
There are a couple of things to know about the use of humor in a speech. One thing is to distinguish healthy and unhealthy humor. Unhealthy humor usually has a victim. It is based on differences. Healthy humor is taken from our everyday experiences and is based on the things people have in common. Therefore it unites them.
Another thing is that when sharing humor with the audience a speaker has to take into account what part of the day it is. The “morning” audience can be tough, because everyone is just getting into work; the “lunch” audience is better, but the best time for sharing humor is dinner-time, because people relax after their working day and are more likely to feel the speaker.
There are certain rules that are strongly advised to be followed. The primary rule is not to offend anybody by a joke. The jokes are not supposed to relate to the audience but to the speaker himself. When a speaker shares his personal stories he will be better accepted by the audience. He can kid about his fame, problems, image, etc. However, he does not have to belittle himself or sacrifice his reputation for a laugh. Besides, the jokes and humorous stories that are used by the speaker have to relate directly to the topic of his speech. The speaker is supposed to speak clearly and keep from laughing at his own story or joke while telling it, so that he can make it clear and to the point. Finally, once a joke is said it may not be repeated once more. So the speaker must not repeat a joke that fails or one that works.
And, remember these tips always work: personal jokes, short remarks that go well with the speech, good choice of vivid words and appropriate body gestures.
26. Healthy humor differs from unhealthy humor in that it is
A. intended to enrich one's experiences
B. linked to the things that people share
C. used most frequently to unite victims
D. based mostly on the differences in life
27. The writer thinks that a joke works best with an audience who is
A. relaxed B. tough
C. hungry D. busy
28. To connect closely with the audience, the speaker is advised to
A. repeat a good joke B. joke about himself
C. laugh at his stories D. improve his image
29. According to paragraph 3, a joke should support
A. the nature of an issue B. the fame of a speaker
C. the taste of an audience D. the subject of a speech
30. One of the tips the writer gives for a successful speech is
A. dramatic gestures B. proper eye contact
C. vivid expressions D. good time control
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Are passwords ont-of-date? It is starting to seem like it. Everybody hates them. These days a typical Intemet user has dozens of online accounts. If you really want to be safe, you need to generate a different password for each one, and each password needs to be extremely complicated, with a mix of letters, symbols, and numbers. Who can keep all that stuff in their head?
Most people do not bother. Some just create one password and use it everywhere. Others might have a few passwords - one for all their banking and financial stuff, one for their social networks, one for email accounts. Problem is that if one site gets hacked, the bad guys now have the password you use elsewhere. These attacks are happening so frequently these days that you might as well assume there is no way to keep a password secret.
Computer scientists realize the system is broken, and they are looking for alternatives. But most attempts have not been very good. Fingerprint readers require special hardware, and many people find them scary and don't want to use them. Smart cards can be lost or stolen. Scientists have tried all sorts of other approaches, but they end up back with passwords. They are the least worst in a series of bad choices.
Markus Jakobsson, a researcher in computer science, has produced something he calls “fastwords.” Instead of inventing a password, you join three simple words that come from a thought known only to you. If one day you were driving to work and ran over a frog that ended up flat, you might choose “frog work flat.” You can enter the three words in any order, and the system still knows that you are you. If your mind goes totally blank, the fastwords system will tell you one of the three words, which should enable you to remember the original thought and thus the three keywords.
The fastwords system represents a step in the right direction, but it is not the promised land. Someone, somehow, needs to come up with something radically different- and radically better - than what we have today.
31. Today people find passwords
A. difficult to create B. easy to figure out
C. hard to remember D. apt to be replaced
32. We learn from paragraph 2 that many people use passwords
A. without due caution B. in a rational manner
C. with frequent changes D. in simple combinations
33. Compared with passwords, other alternatives are even more
A. complex B. confusing
C. troublesome D. expensive
34. One unique advantage of fastwords is that they can be used
A. with greater speed B. with more certainty
C. with greater security D. with more flexibility
35. The writer seems to think that fastwords
A. offer a hopefu'l inspiration B. are as simple as passwords
C. offer a decisive resolution D. are as safe as passwords
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